The Nats and Dodgers square off in an old-fashioned doubleheader today.

Wet grounds last night forced the postponement of the Nationals' game against the Dodgers, so the two clubs will attempt to play two today the old-fashioned way: back-to-back. Yep, it'll be a traditional doubleheader. One ticket gets you into both games, with the nightcap beginning approximately 30 minutes after the first game ends.

Chien-Ming Wang, who was supposed to start last night, will pitch the opener for the Nationals. The Dodgers are starting Chad Billingsley for the first game.

I won't be at the park for this twinbill; taking Mrs. Z and baby Brian to the doctor for a follow-up appointment. But I'll be back on the beat full-time tomorrow. In the meantime, CSNwashington.com's Chase Hughes will take you through both of today's games, so please check back here for updates from him throughout…

Hope that Mrs. Z and Brian pass their exams with flying colors, Mark.Thanks for the updates, Chase.(Doing reverse rain dance.) Rain rain, go away. All the Nationals want to play. Come again some other day. There, that should take care of it. Assuming that it works, then…Go, Wang! Go, Det! Go, NATS!!!

Pay-to-Play — thanks!Folks, I'm going to game, but late — I'll be in Sec 310 Row A (don't know which seat yet). Any chance of meeting up with anybody?(I'll be with a bunch of my wife's co-workers, so behave yourself! )I read that sjm308 will be in Sec 310, too. How will I recognize him?I'll be the guy walking into that section probably around 2pm, with a big beard, and a pretty wife ;-)And sunderland owes me a beer! GYFNG

http://www.weather.com/weather/map/interactive/20001 shows a big line of rain, just west of DC, but moving due north. (And I mean: _just_ west — it's covering Arlington and western parts of DC, but not where the stadium is). I think we might escape it. Check out the time-motion view — it's uncanny.

NatsLady said… Wonk, that's a big line of rain. An inch east and it pours on the stadium. That is almost creepy.Isn't it amazing? And it's been that way for hours.I think Mother Nature wants to see Lombo's debut today, too!(Or maybe they just want to see both teams play a full 162-game schedule)

Raining hard all morning in Reston, but I'm glad it's good enough in DC to go ahead with the games. Kids and hubby are gone for the entire day so I'm hunkered down with blankets, snacks and a big screen HD. I don't even know when was the last time I've had the chance to watch baseball all day. Positively decadent

I can't look at that link at work, NatsLady. But I think you misinterpreted the data. I've never in my life seen a major league baseball team that was given only a 22% chance to win a game. That would require a team to be listed as somewhere north of +400 on the money line, which is far beyond anything I've ever seen. Even +200 lines are rare.Although if it was ever appropriate, it would be for a Chien-Ming Wang start. It was fun but it's way past time to pull the plug on this experiment. It actually concerns me a bit that the front office hasn't seen that already.

My recollection is that the Meadows Farm golf course (near Fredricksburg) had a 'zero' hole that you played first when you left the clubhouse. The hole wasn't listed on the scorecard and the apparent notion was that you needed a real-course warm-up to get your nerves squared away before you began keeping score. Essentially it was a no-harm start to a round of golf.Perhaps Mr. Wang could use a 'zero' inning to start off each game?

Eugene: when I saw him in Chicago, he warmed up for longer than I have ever seen a pitcher warm up. He was out there easily a half hour before the Cubs' pitcher. Maybe it just wasn't possible to have that kind of warm up given the weather?

That would make a little more sense, NatsLady. The kind of people who bet on a Dodgers-Nationals game at 1 PM on a Thursday are also the kind of people that can look beyond the ERA and W-L numbers and see that the 2011 version of Wang is easily the worst starting pitcher in baseball.

Well, that was bad luck for Wang (Morse missing that ball). On the other hand, Nats may have caught a break on the previous play, looked like a tie at the plate on replay. Dodgers didn't argue it, though.

Whoever was asking about UZR, there is an example of how Morse's fielding percent does not reflect his fielding. He doesn't get an error, but he let a pretty "routine" fly ball turn into a double and two runs.

NatsLady-It was a hard line drive. Morse should have caught it for sure, but Wang shouldn't have had two men on base and then allowed a hard line drive to the outfield.At some point the excuses need to stop and we all need to accept that Wang is simply the worst starting pitcher in major league baseball. I've been singing this same chorus for weeks now. I don't enjoy being right about a Nats player being terrible, but at some point we all need to take off the red and white blinders and accept reality. And that includes the front office.

I wasn't picking a fight, NatsLady, just using your post to make my point. Seems we're in agreement.The only question left is how to get Peacock ready to take Wang's spot in five days. He threw a good number of pitches two days ago, so it's kind of tricky. Maybe let him do a couple more innings today and then treat those two outings combined like a start and give him normal rest before the spot comes up again?

And — Michael Morse is not a left fielder. You just cannot fault him for not getting a read on a ball in a position he is not trained for and has very little experience with. I am sure that he will try to learn the position but you can't make up for years of experience as an infielder that quickly. It takes years to learn to play a position really well. He already made himself into a serviceable first baseman. If he had always been a left fielder you could crucify him. Sounds like it's a good thing I am following the game on the computer at work and not watching.

Don't we really have enough info on Wang now to know whether or not he stays or goes? What more can they really learn at this point? An eleven pitch at bat by Lombardozzi – impressive. We have to find a ray of sunshine somewhere these days.

Well, I'm not Rizzo or Davey, but I don't have enough information on Wang. He has good innings and bad innings. That's frustrating, no doubt. But the upside is very high on a pitcher like Wang (is there another pitcher like Wang?). I don't see that kind of upside on someone like Detwiler…who has had a LOT of chances.

Wonk / sjm, can't make the game today, too many roads and bridges closed round these parts. Bummed. Enjoy. And Wonk, yes, I still owes you a beer, for sure.Also, maybe those odds are for a Wang and Detwiler win, not a Nats win. Makes sense that way…

Werth hit a long fly ball that the first base umpire called as caught, but replays showed the ball hit the wall first and then popped into the glove. Werth tried to argue as much but no review and play stood as called.

WB Mason makes me sick to my stomach. I swear I will never buy a product from them. I would rather the Nats lose their promotional dollars than be subjected to this for the entirety of my Nats fandom. Please Nats… have mercy on us with these commercials.

Drew has not pitched much at all in the last couple of weeks. I am not the only poster that has been expressing concern about it.Relievers, especially closers, need regular work, even during losing streaks. It's a shame, but he has had a remarkably good year. I think this is his worst outing all year, no? I also think he needs to get back on the mound just as soon as possible.He has always pitched best when he pitched often. This has been more than rust – it's way too much time off.

Not to mention the fact that we have had a decent offense in basically only one inning. The game also would have been changed if the ump had gotten the call right on Jayson Werth's ball that went up against the wall.

LDN, I already had some chocolate cake, because there's no rule saying you have to wait 'til 5 p.m. for *that.* :-)I think I'll just set the DVR and not watch game 2. (Except that I know I'll be clicking over to steal peeks 'cause I can't turn away. Le sigh.)

Note to Davey Johnson: Never, ever, ever, ever (I seriously canNOT say this enough) put your closer in in a tie game. This is Storen's third loss of the season. ALL have come when he enters a tie game. And to compare, Mariano Rivera has two losses this season….BOTH when entering in a tie game. I'm willing to bet if I went through every team's closer's stats and looked at their losses, I would find the vast majority happened when the closer came in in a tie game. I don't know why it happens, but it does. Please make a note of it Davey, preferably before the second game starts.

Poignant – Anonymous said… This is one depressing team to watch. If Riggleman was still in that dugout right now with this record and the way this team is playing — all of you would have been ready to crucify him. September 8, 2011 4:41 PM